Unreal Tournament 2014 Pre-Alpha Available For Download

By Kevin Parrish
published

Unreal Tournament fans looking to get an early taste of the latest installment, dubbed Unreal Tournament 2014, can already grab a pre-alpha build. The catch is that you will need an Unreal Engine 4 subscription to play the game, which costs $19 per month.

Epic Games announced Unreal Tournament 2014 back in May. Epic senior programmer and UT project lead Steve Polge said that the game will be free and developed in conjunction with the Unreal Engine community.

"We know that fans of the game are as passionate about Unreal Tournament as we are," he said. "We know that you have great ideas and strong opinions about where the game should go and what it should be. So let's do something radical and make this game together, in the open, and for all of us."

The pre-alpha, compiled by fans of the series, isn't a full-fledged demo, but it is meant for providing feedback on the gameplay. Those who have played this build report that it only provides greybox levels, meaning the textures aren't in place. Still, the game already feels like an Unreal Tournament installment at this point in the developmental stage.

The premier Unreal Tournament made its first appearance on the PC back in November 1999, followed by releases on the PlayStation 2 and the Sega Dreamcast. After that, Epic released Unreal Tournament 2003, Unreal Tournament 2004, and then Unreal Tournament 3 in November 2007. This series' biggest competitor was id Software's Quake III Arena, which launched on December 2, 1999 and lives on today as Quake Live.

Will this be the best Unreal Tournament yet? Possibly so, given that Epic Games has thrown open the doors to the community. What's shocking is that the game will be free, a factor that will undoubtedly reel in a new generation of arena-style players. The anticipation for something playable is intense, hence all the excitement surrounding this pre-alpha build.

For more information about these builds, check out the Beyond Unreal IRC channel.

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Kevin Parrish
14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • lelutinbanni
    Early Access Pre Alpha Beta Soon To be a game Project
    Reply
  • red77star
    I am not paying $19 to play a game. I hope subscription is not required for final version of the game.
    Reply
  • dextermat
    **facepalm**

    The catch is that you will need an Unreal Engine 4 subscription to play the game, which costs $19 per month.

    notttt.....
    Reply
  • Chris Droste
    a NEW LOW for games, charging a MONTHLY FEE which is actually more than most of the hot current MMOs charge to play a PRE-ALPHA game!

    the only people impressed with this tactic is Zynga
    Reply
  • AUShollowpoint
    There not charging to play it at all if you are a developer using ue4 then you get access to it otherwise you can wait for the beta like I will have to. If your input to the alpha is so important then you will need to pay the subscription to ue otherwise suck it up princess your not a developer so why should you get the alpha to a AAA title. I'm really looking forward to this game and the developers look to be getting it right
    Reply
  • Blazer1985
    With 19€ you have access to the full-fledged unreal engine 4, something that a person unable to read a simple article like this is probably not interested in. This is an alpha build for developers (and community) only, you are not missing that much really.
    Reply
  • Chris Droste
    13959495 said:
    There not charging to play it at all if you are a developer using ue4 then you get access to it otherwise you can wait for the beta like I will have to. If your input to the alpha is so important then you will need to pay the subscription to ue otherwise suck it up princess your not a developer so why should you get the alpha to a AAA title. I'm really looking forward to this game and the developers look to be getting it right

    let me put it to you like this. if community feedback is so important, and they want more people who typically wouldn't already be messing with their developer account/tools, then why would i be paying _them_ so _they_ can "get my valuable feedback" ? Traditionally, companies PAY beta testers, not the other way around. this is just begging for people who are still light on the concept of alpha and beta ware to provide tons of asinine feedback and negative press.
    Reply
  • matt_b
    Free to play this day and age unfortunately means either:
    A) Pay to win
    B) Nickled and dimed to death with DLC or add-ons.

    Very few games break that mold anymore, I hope this title is one of the few exceptions.

    For the many that have already missed it, the Unreal subscription gets you access to the game. Paying the $19/month isn't aimed at the everyday consumer but rather the developers out there (right now). Nonetheless, access is open to all regardless of who you are. The whole point is for the people playing this to also have the tools to a pre-alpha title so they can assist with its progression.
    Reply
  • boytitan2
    The stupidity I have read has reached a new level. Basically if you are some one using unreal engine 4 you get to play the game. The reason they are doing this is because idk the whole lets make a game with the community thing. Pretty sure amateur to small groups who have made a few inde games use unreal engine 4. I am pretty sure Epic would want a way for those people to get access to the gam eeasily so they can share ideas so this can truly be game between Epic and the fans. This shows that epic is doing exactly what they said they would making a completely free unreal tournament between fans and Epic games this is not some lets make money quick scheme.
    Reply
  • eldragon0
    Chris, Boy, I think you both missed the point here, and tom did a great job of twisting an article for the people who don't understand anything. Dev's pay a monthly prescription to use Unreal4. The main devs of UT are making a f2p game and are allowing it to be completely open source. In such that they are inviting devs to come and help make the game with them. Those devs are able to play the game because they are making it. All tom is saying is " if you want to be a dick, and stupid, you can pay to act like a dev for a game in pre-production to play it before it's out".
    Reply